0713MM: Hey guys! I welcome you to the 7th chapter of my Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS fanfic! I do not own VRAINS, nor its characters. I do however, own Glacies Uisce-Zaizen (Ice Queen) and Juliette Kogami. To an extent, at least. Now with disclaimers aside, let the chapter begin!
Chapter 7
Akira opened his eyes slowly. He blinked several times to get ahold of his surroundings. When he noticed that Glacies and Aoi were unconsciousness on the living room couch, he knew immediately where he was. His apartment-house. He stood up, a bit shaky, but managed to stand fully. When he glanced at his 2 sisters again, he noticed that they were logged into VRAINS. He raised his left arm upward and tried to enter VRAINS.
"Into the VRAINS!" Akira declared. After a few seconds, nothing happened. Akira tried again, then a 3rd and 4th time. Still, nothing happened. He tapped the device with his right index finger.
"Stupid thing." Akira muttered. "Must be broken."
"I am afraid your duel disk in hopes to enter VRAINS is not broken, Akira Zaizen." Akira gaped, surprised to see a hologram form out of his duel disk. A yellow humanoid to be accurate. Akira nearly staggered back several feet and almost landed on the couch Glacies was on, but he steadied himself and stared at the Light Ignis.
"Lightning!" Akira spoke, surprised.
"Glad that you recognize me." Lightning spoke.
"What's going on? Why am I back in my house?" Akira demanded.
"Oh?" Lightning wondered. He then chuckled. "Ah yes…. Well to put it simply… I freed you from my device that shall enable me to control all of humanity. Well...excluding those that willingly work for me like Queen, CEO of SOL Technologies."
"Queen…!" Akira clenched his fists. "I made the right call in abandoning that wretched company!" His eyes then narrowed at Lightning. "Are you going to force me to return to it? Become Queen's pawn again?" Lightning raised his hands up.
"No Akira Zaizen." Lightning remarked. "And I'm well aware that you are trying to re-access Link VRAINS, but as you've come to notice, your duel disk is not responding. Why? Because I jammed its signal to let you back into Link VRAINS for the next 24 hours."
"Damn you!" Akira growled. He let his frustration disperse before continuing. "I will be able to contact them while they are in VRAINS, right?"
"But of course." Lightning replied. "I can assure you Akira Zaizen that your computers and other means of communication have not been tampered with by me or my associates. If you don't believe me, you may check."
Before Akira could retort, Lightning's hologram vanished. Akira clenched his fists, but then strided into his personal office of the Zaizen residence and he booted up the computer. Once that was finished, Akira set up the programs that would enable him to contact either Aoi or Glacies.
I have to let them know that I'm alright. Akira thought. He pressed a button and opened up communications with Ice Queen.
Ice Queen, along with Revolver and Soulburner had contacted the others, telling them what had happened. Blue Girl panicked of what happened to Akira, while Playmaker tried to calm her down.
"It's alright Aoi." Ice Queen spoke to her as Playmaker continued to calm her down.
"How can I calm down?! Who knows what they'll do to Nii-sama!" Blue Girl spoke frantically.
"Akira is alright Aoi!" Ice Queen told her. "He just talked to me."
"He did?" Ai questioned, surprised.
"Yes." Ice Queen nodded. "Lightning freed him from his device he got captured because of Queen. Unfortunately, Lightning hacked his duel disk so he cannot access Link VRAINS for the next 24 hours." Juliette, standing next to her son, clenched her fists in anger.
"Damn you Queen!" Juliette growled.
"They're decreasing our numbers." Flame spoke.
"Which is not good." Soulburner frowned. "We haven't reached, nor found any of clue of where they could be and our numbers are already decreasing."
"So what should we do?" Playmaker asked. "We can't just log out and wait for them to attack. By then, it will already be too late."
"I still say we just go and attack them as a combined force." Spectre piped up.
"Spectre not now." Faust sighed.
"There has to be an easier way to be able to know what their next move is and their location." Ghost Girl frowned. Revolver snapped his fingers while everyone else was thinking on how to answer Ghost Girl's question.
"There is." Revolver remarked.
"You know a way?" Playmaker questioned. Revolver glanced at Playmaker and nodded.
"Yes." Revolver retorted. "We can track their signature via a recording. Of course, it'd have to be live feed in order for the idea to work though."
"Great!" Ice Queen spoke in exasperation. "So we're just going to sit here and wait for them to do something!" She punched her hand with her fist. "Let's go and find them so we don't have to wait!"
"Aoi!" Blue Girl heard the voice inside her voice piece.
"Nii-sama!" Blue Girl gasped, relieved to hear her brother's voice. "Are you alright?!"
"I'm perfectly alright Aoi." Akira replied. If Blue Girl and/or Ice Queen could see his face, they'd see a smile on his face. "I may not be able to help you guys within VRAINS for the next 24 hours, but I can guide you via our computer at the house." He paused, hearing Playmaker whisper something, but couldn't make it out clearly. "I know I'm not as good as Kusanagi, but I'm good enough to help." Suddenly, a hologram before the group appeared. Akira took notice of it utmost immediately. "It's Lightning!"
"What do you want now Lightning?!" Ice Queen demanded. Lightning glanced at the group and chuckled.
"It's not what I want." Lightning replied. "It's what one of your group members wants."
"What do you mean?" Soulburner demanded. Instead of answering, Lightning gestured over to Windy, who was standing over the defeated Blood Sheppard. A sadistic grin upon his lips. (Well, if he had any lips.)
"Blood Sheppard?!" Playmaker gaped shocked.
"No way! You actually defeated him?!" Ai gaped, shocked.
"But why would you-" Flame began. Ghost Girl looked upon the now defeated Blood Sheppard. He was not ushering any words. Instead, he was making small hand motions with his fingers. Ghost Girl gasped in horror at the sight. Blood Sheppard's avatar body was badly damaged. Most likely from his duel with Lightning not too long ago.
"Brother!" Ghost Girl yelled in horror.
"Brother?!" The others gaped, shocked. Lightning moved the hologram back over to him and he stared at the group intensely.
"That's right." Lightning replied. "Blood Sheppard and Ghost Girl are step-siblings. Just like Akira and Aoi Zaizen."
"Seriously?!" Soulburner gaped, shocked.
"What have you done to him?!" Ghost Girl demanded angrily. Lightning glanced over at the angry Ghost Girl. A pondering expression on his face.
"What's it to you?" Lightning questioned. When Lightning noticed Ghost Girl's anger rising via her angry expression, he continued. "Well if you must know, I plan to use Blood Sheppard as a sacrifice to power up my device that shall enable me and Windy to control all of humanity. Excluding those that ally themselves with me, of course." Lightning then put a hand to his chin, going into thought. "Or I could just….turn him into my puppet."
"Blood Sheppard would rather die and be absorbed into your device than be your mindless puppet!" Ghost Girl shot back angrily. Despite her angry outburst, Lightning remained calm.
"Unfortunately for you Ghost Girl, your brother doesn't have a choice." Lightning retorted.
"Damn you Lightning!" Ghost Girl snarled.
"But why him of all people?" Blue Girl frowned. Lightning glanced at Blue Girl and his yellow eyes made it seem like he was smiling.
"You're smart; figure it out." Lightning remarked.
"Blood Sheppard knows and is able to decipher the Ignis algorithm. Not only that, he sees them along with AI as enemies." Faust frowned.
"In other words, he's taking out another threat to his plans." Playmaker frowned.
"And turning him into his puppet." Soulburner added. "Lightning is going to turn him into something he hates."
"Release my brother! Now!" Ghost Girl snapped. Lightning chuckled darkly at her angry response, as if amused by it.
"It's too late for that." Lightning replied. "Windy has already finished the modifications."
"No way….!" Ghost Girl spoke softly, horror appeared on her face. Lightning gestured to the now rising Blood Sheppard.
"Enjoy yourselves while you can, because I'm going to send Blood Sheppard after you lot." Lightning warned. Lightning paused, waiting to see if any of them would cut the communication. When none of them did, Lightning continued. "Oh and Ghost Girl, here's something you'd be quite interested in hearing. It'll boil your anger far beyond than what you're already displaying on your facial features." Ghost Girl felt her entire body shaking from what she was forced to witness. She found her voice despite her own anger and fear creeping upon her face.
"What?" She questioned.
"Do you recall Playmaker and Soulburner telling you about what Windy did to his partner?" Lightning inquired. Ghost Girl gave a nod.
"Yes I remember." She retorted. "But what does that have anything to do with our present situation at hand?" At her response to his question, Lightning began to laugh. The group heard Windy laughing sadistically in the background. Lightning stopped laughing after a few moments to allow himself to speak. Windy continued to laugh in the background.
"Well…...let's just say that when Windy was hoping to kill his Origin in a car accident, he….hacked the taxi Kengo Dojin and his Mother were in." They all gasped at this.
"So then it's because of Windy that Blood Sheppard lost his arm and his Mother is hospitalized?!" Ai gaped, shocked.
"That's right!" The group heard Windy's voice in the background. "Oh Kengo's expression when the whole thing happened! It was priceless!" Everyone (excluding Ghost Girl) bore looks of absolute horror. This included Revolver, Faust, Genome, Spectre, Baira and Juliette.
"How horrible!" Blue Girl covered her mouth, Ice Queen's eyes twitched utmost violently, Playmaker and Soulburner closed their eyes and looked down, Akira, who listened to the whole thing, had his mouth agape in horror. Ghost Girl on the other hand….. Well, her entire body was shaking violently and shadows appeared over her eyes.
"...YOU THINK THIS IS FUNNY WINDY AND LIGHTNING?!" Ghost Girl roared, the shadows over her eyes vanished. Her grey eyes flashed brightly; anger emitted off her entire body. "You think that my step-brother and step-mother getting hospitalized is funny?! You sicken me!" Windy's laughter in the background slowly died down after hearing Ghost Girl's angry outburst. Despite her outburst, Lightning still bore a calm expression.
"Your anger is impeccable, Ghost Girl." Lightning noted. "Heh… All the more reason to fight against us, right?" Ghost Girl clenched her fists tightly.
"You got that right Lightning!" Ghost Girl shot back. "I will find you, and I will defeat you! I will end your devious schemes!" She placed her clenched right fist on her chest. "But not just for me, but for everyone you have, and will hurt if you're not stopped! I owe Playmaker a debt for saving me from the Tower of Hanoi, and I intend to live up to it!"
"Ghost Girl…" Playmaker breathed. At her mini speech, Lightning chuckled and clapped a few times.
"Impressive! Your dedication is as strong as ever, Ghost Girl." Lightning applauded. "However, your anger towards me will only dig your own grave faster than you already have."
"Damn you!" Ghost Girl snarled.
"Ghost Girl!" Blue Girl called out to her. "Calm down! He's just trying to screw with our heads! Make us turn against each other!" Ghost Girl glanced over slightly and she noticed Blue Girl was shaking her shoulders. "Please Ghost Girl!" At this point, not only was Lightning's hologram gone, but Ghost Girl slowly began to calm down as well. But despite this, she still bore a saddened expression on her face.
"Brother…" Ghost Girl spoke softly.
"Don't worry Ghost Girl, we'll save him." Soulburner assured.
"Hopefully." Playmaker frowned.
"We will." Ice Queen added, determination within her voice.
"Well, once you guys find an entrance to Lightning's place, save the coordinates and log out of VRAINS." Akira spoke.
"Eh? Why brother?" Ice Queen questioned.
"Yeah. If we find the entrance, we should head to where Lightning is!" Ai added. Spectre cracked his knuckles.
"I'm ready for this!" Spectre grinned.
"The sooner we defeat Lightning and Windy, the sooner I can go back to my original purpose." Revolver spoke nonchalantly.
"Guys-" Akira began, but he was interrupted.
"Let's go then!"
"Guys-" Akira tried again, but once again, his pleas went unanswered as he watched the group through his computer screen. He sighed in utmost annoyance, but continued to watch; just to see if any out of the ordinary popped up. Unfortunately for him, something out of the ordinary did appear. He gaped upon seeing the silhouette of someone in the distance.
"That's-!" Akira began, a shocked expression upon his face. "Everyone! Look up!" They all nearly jumped by Akira's sudden shout. They did so, and were shocked upon seeing a familiar person coming to them.
"Is that-?!" Soulburner began shocked.
"Go Onizuka." Playmaker frowned. Aqua stared at Go and she felt a wave of dread wash over her. Surprisingly enough, like Aqua, Spectre too, felt a wave of dread wash over him as well.
What's this...feeling I'm having?... Spectre thought.
"He has…" Aqua began, a her pink eyes twitching in sadness. Ice Queen glanced down at Aqua, then glanced up back at Go.
"What does he have, Aqua?" Ice Queen questioned. Go pointed his right index finger at Playmaker.
"Playmaker!" He shouted. "This is my final duel! And I wouldn't want any other opponent than you!" Playmaker tsked, but turned away from the group and flew towards Go.
"Fine." Playmaker remarked. He then glanced at the others. "Go! If Akira or Kusanagi-san have found any leads on Lightning and WIndy's new whereabouts, you should get out to discuss things further with them!"
"Don't be a fool, Playmaker." Revolver frowned. "I can't have my rival perish to the former Charisma Duelist. So I'm staying."
"As am I." Soulburner replied. Playmaker then glanced at the others, who all nodded. He sighed at that.
"Fine." He told them. "But I'm dueling him regardless of what you say." Juliette Kogami frowned at his response.
"Your stubbornness matches that of Ryoken's." Juliette told him.
"Hey!" Both Revolver and Playmaker shot back.
"That's something we can all agree on." Ai muttered.
"Indeed." Flame nodded.
"SPEED DUEL!" Both Go and Playmaker declared.
Go went first and set a monster. Playmaker then amassed a field of 3 monsters in hopes to end things quickly, but Go countered it with a single effect in his hand. Playmaker then ended his turn afterwards. The moment Go took his turn, both Aqua and Spectre experienced the feeling again from earlier. Once Go played a Spell to turn his 2 Dinowrestlers to Cyberse-type, the sorrowful feeling returned, much stronger than before.
"Appear! The circuit that leads to victory!" Go announced. "The Summoning Conditions are 2 Cyberse-type monsters!" Both his Dinowrestlers went into the blue circuit; the Left and Bottom Link Markers glowed red. "Link Summon! Appear! Link 2! Crystal Heart!" The heart came out of the Circuit. But instead of blue like it was when Earth used it against Go, it was now red with a dark aura surrounding it. (G Golem Crystal Heart, attribute: WATER, type: Cyberse/Link, Link Rating: 2, Link Arrows: L/B, ATK: 0.)
"WHAT?!" Ai shrieked.
"But that's-!" Flame gasped.
"Crystal Heart…" Aqua spoke, her voice filled with dread.
"How could he have Earth's card?!" Ai spoke, shocked.
"I know how." Akira's voice rang into the entire groups' duel disks.
"You do?" Soulburner questioned, shocked.
"Yes." Akira replied. "Earth is…..inside Go Onizuka…" While Revolver didn't bare a surprised, nor horrified expression, the other Knights (especially Spectre), along with Juliette Kogami, Ice Queen, Blue Girl, Ghost Girl, Soulburner, Playmaker, Aqua, Flame and Ai.
"They took Earth's data and put it in Go Onizuka's AI chip?!" Ai yelled, shocked.
"...Sadly yes, Ai…." Akira replied softly.
"Earth…" Aqua spoke softly. So softly that only Ice Queen could hear her.
"That's…." Baira began.
"Even I have to admit that is too horrible." Faust frowned.
"How dare they do this to Earth!" Flame yelled angrily. Ice Queen grit her teeth in utmost anger at the sight of Crystal Heart's new appearance. Like Aqua, Spectre's eyes were twitching violently in sadness.
"Damn you…..!" Ice Queen growled at Go. Go's reaction to her was a simple laugh.
"It doesn't matter what you think, nor say, Ice Queen." Go retorted coldly. "Earth is a part of me now. And because he is…. I shall use his monsters to crush Playmaker!"
"To think I admired him…" Soulburner frowned deeply.
"Well screw admiring him!" Ice Queen snapped angrily. "He's the lowest of the low!"
"...I only know of one person that'd go this far to get what she wants….." Juliette frowned deeply.
"Queen." Genome frowed.
"It has to have been her. She must've gave the order to do this." Baira agreed with a frown. Revolver tsked, then glanced over at Spectre, whose eyes were still twitching.
"Spectre…" Revolver spoke softly.
"Battle!" Go sneered. "Dinowrestler King T Wrextle, att-!"
"NO!" Ice Queen screamed and she thrusted her D-Board towards Go; thus ramming into his.
"Ice Queen!Glacies!" Soulburner and Akira called out to her. Go felt his body wobble on his D-Board after ice Queen rammed him with hers.
"Ice Queen!" Playmaker called out to her.
"Ice Queen! Stop!" Aqua pleaded. "Your anger at Go will not bring Earth back!" Ice Queen glanced at Aqua, then back at Go, who was regaining his balance on his D-Board. Before Ice Queen could speak, Aqua continued. "I understand your anger Ice Queen. I too want Earth back as much as you. But interfering in this duel will not help him."
"Tsk…" Ice Queen grunted. "I don't like it, but I trust your judgement, Aqua."
"Heh…..you should have continued do that…" Go taunted. "Keep giving Aqua a bad name…."
"Damn you….!" Ice Queen snarled lowly.
"Now as I was saying! Dinowrestler King T Wrextle, att-!" Go began again, however once again he was interrupted. But his D-Board was not rammed by Ice Queen. It was rammed by…
"I won't let you do as you please with the Earth Ignis!" Spectre snapped. Go turned to glance at Spectre. Who despite his emotionless face, deep down, he held some form of surprise. Even the others were surprised. Especially the other Knights.
"What?!" Revolver gaped. "Spectre…..! You….!" He paused, then continued. Spectre rammed Go's D-Board again to prevent him from regaining his balance, then he glanced at Revolver.
"Destroying the Ignis may be our goal," Spectre began. "but I am still Earth's Origin. And if Earth had a choice on how he dies, I'm fairly certain he'd rather die by our hands. Instead….." Spectre pointed his right index finger at Go before he continued. "He is being used like a pawn! That can be considered worse than death for some!"
"I can't believe I'm saying this, but I agree with him!"Ai said, still shocked by Spectre's words.
"Spectre…" Playmaker muttered. Ice Queen's lips formed a small smile.
"Guess there is a heart underneath."
"I agree with Spectre as well." Faust spoke.
"As do I." Both Baira and Genome added. Revolver glanced between his other Knights, then back at Spectre. His facial expression turned to that of disappointment.
"Are you lot serious right now?" He demanded.
"You mean to say that this kind of thing is what Earth deserves?" Soulburner demanded to Revolver.
"I never said that." Revolver countered.
"Well it sounds like it." Flame retorted. Revolver glanced at Soulburner, then Flame; he shrugged.
"So what?" Revolver retorted.
"Ryoken, please drop your Father's dumb ideals." Juliette told him. Revolver tensed, then glared at his Mother.
"...Shut up Mother…" Revolver spoke dangerously low. Juliette opened her mouth to retort, but she then closed her mouth a few seconds later. She then pressed a button on her wrist-pad and logged out. No one had barely taken notice, as they were too occupied with Spectre ramming Go off his D-Board. Go screamed as he felt off his D-Board and into the depths of the network.
From within Queen's office, she had watched Spectre ram Go off his D-Board. She grit her teeth, then pressed a button and forcefully logged Go off.
"Well…...that certainly did go as planned…" Queen mused. "Oh well…...least I know that Earth's data works fine…." She pressed a button on a console in front of her and a hologram of Lightning appeared before her.
"So Go failed…" Lightning spoke. "How…..unfortunate….for him…"
"I know." Queen replied. "Once I logged him out, I had a team of scientists extract the AI chip and give it to me. I will give it to you fairly soon."
"How soon?" Lightning questioned.
"As soon as I acquire another Ignis to dissect." Queen retorted.
"...I see….." Lightning mused. "And which one do you intend to acquire next?... Do you need my or Windy's help?..."
"That would be most appreciated." Queen smiled. "As for the Ignis I want next before I give you Earth's data and the data of the newly acquired Ignis, let's just say that I want Aqua next….. From Earth's data I dissected, it seems he has a deep connection to her….. And he'll do anything to protect Crystal Heart… He acts as if it's Aqua's actual heart he's protecting…. How ironic… He tried the same tactic against Go… Only to utterly be defeated by his own tactics…" Lightning put a hand to his chin; as if in deep thought. After a several minutes, he replied.
"Are you certain that going after Glacies Uisce-Zaizen-I mean, Ice Queen, is wise?" Lightning questioned. Queen scoffed at Lightning's questioning of her decision to go after Glacies Uisce-Zazen, aka, Ice Queen in VRAINS.
"We may be partners in crime Light Ignis, but this is my decision." Queen reminded him. "And because it is, I shall take her down myself. You can use your own soldiers plus my newly formed AI soldiers, thanks to Earth's data of course, to fend off the others." Lightning stared at Queen for a good few minutes before he replied.
"Very well Queen." Lightning retorted. "I shall do so. I might send Windy to help you out as well. I've overhead him swearing revenge against the Knights of Hanoi. More specifically, Revolver."
"Very well." Queen nodded, then her lips formed a dark smile, however reverted to a frown. "What of Juliette Kogami? She is just as much of a threat as the others."
"Ahh yes, your old friend, Juliette Kogami." Lightning remarked. "I shall leave her to you… Use whatever means necessary to lure her to you….. Then…...activate the device I gave you that will allow you to turn the loser into data that'll be transferred to my Tower to control the entire Human Race. Do you understand Queen?" Queen nodded; a dark smile present on her face.
"Yes Lightning." She remarked. "Queen out." And with that, she cut off the communication with Lightning. She then deleted the record so no SOL employee could track it, let alone any other hacker.
0713MM: Whoa! Queen is becoming darker by the chapter (or episode if you're watching the anime), Go has Earth within him (for this chapter only), and Spectre is out of his shell in regards to being Revolver's 2nd in command blindly! Well for the thing regarding Spectre, I figured from the anime, in episode 81 at least, that when Spectre saw the darkened Crystal Heart, that he might start to question the motives of the Knights in regards to killing the Ignis. I don't think it'll happen in the anime, but you never know! The writers are throwing some crazy stuff at us. So if it does happen, I will be happy for Spectre, but also not totally surprised at the same time. See, I've come up with some crazy speculations/theories/predictions of my own after an episode. And funnily enough, more often than not, my speculations/theories/predictions come true. As for Queen, she is now desperate for data. And she doesn't care how she gets it, (as seen in the anime in regards to her conversation with Akira near the end of episode 81). But if you recall from chapter 3 and 4 of this fanfic of mine, Akira has already quit SOL Technologies. Alas, I hope you readers enjoyed this chapter!^^
